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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569384">Only Human</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/momma_66/pseuds/momma_66'>momma_66</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Only Human [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Body Modification, Gen, Graphic Description, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:02:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,472</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/momma_66/pseuds/momma_66</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Din holds up his hand and spreads his fingers. "Did someone do this to you?" And moved his fingers best he could to imitate the child's. Din hasn't felt such a burning hatred in him when the child shrugs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin &amp; Cara Dune, Din Djarin &amp; Grogu | Baby Yoda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Only Human [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Only Human</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Not sure where this came from, started out with an idea and then my muse went sideways. This is definitely something I'll be back to explore. </p>
<p>Once it started going sideways, I at least found another hc_bingo fill, even if there is no way I'll make a bingo by tonight. </p>
<p>Fill for "Free Space" - body modification on my hc_bingo card.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The steady drip of rain could be heard from the cracked window above Din's head. It had been raining for what seemed like days now. It never rains like this in the endless days of summer, when the heat is so wet that even the shallowest breath can feel like drowning. Even when they do the reprieve was short lived and the oppressive wet blanket of heat returns the minute the sun does. No wind either, when it's hot and relentless. Tonight, just as it had all day and the night and day before, the rain pattered on. And when it's cold the rain can feel as endless as the humid summer. The wind kicked up intermittently, throwing shocking drops against the back of Din's neck. And he couldn't be bothered to move enough and close it.</p>
<p>The television had long skipped into telemarketing and As Seen on TV ads run on a loop. He could change it, move it to one of the streaming services Cara convinced him he needed. The lukewarm beer he had forgotten was sitting next to four empty ones. </p>
<p>He felt useless.</p>
<p>Din sighed and shifted again. He should go stretch out on his bed. Rest his ankle on something softer than the coffee table. It had only been a week and Din's small home was beginning to feel too small. Something it had never felt before and he spent plenty of time between these walls. There was also the option of staying right where he was until Cara showed up tonight so he could enjoy her look of complete disdain. </p>
<p>The choice was taken from him when he heard something clatter to the ground outside the window behind him. He was up, grabbing his glock that he never had out of reach. His ankle and heel throbbed as he struggled to the front door. He didn't have time to wrap the cast and his doctor would just have to be disappointed that he didn't listen <i>again</i>. </p>
<p>Din opened the front door and peered out into the rain. The wind took that moment to whip up, sending a chill through Din's skin. He only had a thin shirt and sleep pants on. He looked to the right where the noise had come from. His porch extended to just before the window and he kept the recycle and trash bins at the corner of the porch. Both were toppled over and Din was thankful he'd been laid up for a week and they were empty. He does not want to think of what Cara or Paz would say if he asked them to clean up trash after some animal. </p>
<p>Hobbling to the bins he set them back up right. It was cold and miserable outside and no creature in their right mind should be out here. Din's home wasn't so far out of town to be considered the sticks but his neighbors were still several acres away. Sighing, peering into the rain once more he turned to head in. Something in the dark, huddled against the house caught his eye. </p>
<p>"Hello?" Din called out. The shape shifted, turning more into itself. "Are you hurt?" There was no answer. Stooping down as best he could with the bulking cast Din caught sight of a stooped figure. He held out his hand, "come on. Don't be scared."</p>
<p>They shifted, turning toward Din's voice. "Oh my God." It was just a <i>child</i>. </p>
<p>Din fell to his ass as gracefully as he could, maneuvering over the edge of the porch. The child was quivering in the cold, head huddled down into the, it looked like a burlap sack to Din, cloak wrapped around him. "Come on now," he pitches his voice as softly as possible. </p>
<p>The child's head twitched, impossibly dark eyes looked at him, the child didn't appear to have any whites. Din couldn't tell completely but the child looked ill too, a green hue to his skin. Finally the child reached out to him and Din did the same. He grabbed the hand and helped the child up, pulled him up onto the porch. The child weighed hardly anything.</p>
<p>Din struggled to get purchase and get his casted foot under him so he could stand. The porch was slippery on good days, the stain worn down. Tonight it was treacherous. He was turned awkwardly when he slipped, his casted foot hit the ground first. He can <i>hear</i> an awful snap. The last thing Din sees before passing out from the pain was impossibly dark eyes peering over him from the porch.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Din jolted to wakefulness. The last bit of the absolutely bizarre dream he was having faded away. He wiped a hand down his face and opened his eyes. The child from his dream was staring back at him. Din scrambled back, trying to sit up and maneuver his cast. Which should be throbbing. </p>
<p>It should be throbbing.</p>
<p>The child was watching him curiously, head tilted to the side. Din had been correct last night in the dim light of the porch, the child had no whites to his eyes. His skin wasn't green from illness either, it appeared to be closer to his skin tone instead. Any other features were covered by the hood over his head.</p>
<p>"Are you hurt?" Din finally spoke. The child's head tilted in the opposite direction and then he gave a slight shake. "Did you bring me inside?" Din knew they were alone, if Cara or Paz had shown up, he's certain they wouldn't have just let him sleep. The child stared into Din's eyes and Din couldn't help but feel like the child was <i>looking</i> into his very mind. He finally nodded, once. </p>
<p>Din sat up further, swinging his legs over onto the floor. The cast was heavy but there was absolutely no pain. He could wiggle his toes and even move his ankle slightly within the confines of the cast. Even if he could articulate it, he doesn't know if he wants to know the truth yet. </p>
<p>He can finally get a good look at the child sitting on his coffee table. Din doesn't know much about children other than the few times he's met Peli's grandchildren but he thinks the child could be four or five. But he is so small and thin and the hands that Din can see peeking out from the folds of his cloak are thin and tiny and they do not look right. Din reached out and took one, the child jolted but didn't pull away. The child's hands appeared almost clawed, with the pinky and ring fused, pointer and middle finger as well. The thumb moved independently and had the same clawed shape as the fingers.</p>
<p>Din holds up his hand and spreads his fingers. "Did someone do this to you?" And moved his fingers best he could to imitate the child's. Din hasn't felt such a burning hatred in him when the child shrugs since his time in the military years ago. When atrocities were common and Din had felt numb to what happened around him.</p>
<p>Din moved the child to the couch, who didn't flinch at all to his touch this time. He stood up and moved to his desk, the cast thunking under him. First, he texted Cara telling her that she did not need to stop by today.</p>
<p>
  <i>Stop babying me</i>
</p>
<p>Was how he ended it, knowing it would annoy her enough that she might not stop by for a few days. Second he grabbed his laptop and moved back to the couch. The child had covered himself up and was watching Din's every move. Din sat on the opposite side and opened the computer. He looked for missing children reports, he wasn't surprised to find nothing remotely resembling the child. He sat there for a moment wondering what he should do next. </p>
<p>The child had moved him inside, even though he appeared to barely weigh fifty pounds. Din also knew, without a doubt, that his ankle had at the <i>least</i> rebroken somewhere last night. And today it was completely healed. He put the computer on the coffee table and checked his phone.</p>
<p>
  <i>Fuck you. Starve</i>
</p>
<p>He wasn't surprised by the text.</p>
<p>"You hungry, kid?" The child turned his eyes to Din. "Gonna take that as a yes." He moved to the kitchen and when he heard soft steps behind him he wasn't surprised to find the child climbing up to sit at Din's small kitchen table. Those dark eyes followed Din's every move. "Can you talk?"</p>
<p>The child tilted his head, looked away and then gave a small shake. "But you understand me?" This time the child didn't move at all. Maybe that was his way of saying 'what do you think'?</p>
<p>Din didn't have much in the cupboard or refrigerator but he was able to scrambled a few eggs. He placed them in front of the child. He ignored the fork that Din had placed in the bowl and ate carefully with his clawed hand. </p>
<p>"Do you have a name?" The child nodded but Din wasn't sure how to ask what it was.</p>
<p>When the eggs were finished and the child pushed the bowl away, Din asked, "would you like to get cleaned up?" The child hesitated for a long time before nodding. </p>
<p>Din nodded and left the room, the child had not had any troubles following him yet.</p>
<p>"Can I leave you alone? Do - do you need help?" The child nodded once and then gave a shake. Whatever his age, he was an intelligent child. Din ran a few inches of water into the tub. He didn't have anything like bath soap but he figured the child would need a second, maybe third, washing. The child was struggling to pull his cloak over his head. </p>
<p>"Here," he grabbed the hem and pulled. "Holy shit!" he yelled. The child squealed a piercing sound as they both stared wide-eye at the other. The child had very little hair on his head, wispy pieces that were a dark brown. But that wasn't what was shocking.</p>
<p>His ears protruded from the sides of his head about two-and-half inches. They came to a point, making a triangle shape. And unlike his dirty face the top of his head and ears were clean and the child didn't have green toned skin. His skin was green. The child became distressed, covering his ears and cowering away from Din.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry." Din soothed, "I didn't mean to yell. They surprised me that's all." He turned, trying not to look at the child while still calming him. Din stood and left the room, he fumbled trying to pull his phone from his pocket.</p>
<p>
  <i>Changed my mind. Need clothes for a kid.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>What the fuck.</i>
</p>
<p>Was the unsurprising response. His phone vibrated and pinged for several minutes while Din opened his dresser drawers looking for a shirt small enough to put on the child while they waited for Cara. Finally finding something from his college days before enlistment filled him out he made his way back to the bathroom.</p>
<p>He knocked and wasn't surprised by the lack of response. He opened the door and found the child sitting in the tub. The dirty clothes the child had worn were piled on the closed toilet. Din looked and saw that the little bit of water that he had run was filthy. Stooping down, Din pulled the plug and let out the water. </p>
<p>"Can I help you?" he asked gently. The child stared at him, those dark eyes boring into Din's soul. He nodded. </p>
<p>Din wet the wash cloth and wrung it over the child's head. He repeated the motions a few times before grabbing the bar of soap. Scrubbing up his bare hands he ran them over the child's head mindfully of both his wide-eyes and ears. Discreetly he ran his fingers around the ears looking for surgical marks. Din didn't know what to make of the lack of evidence that the child had been further modified, like his hands. </p>
<p>Using the clean wash cloth he wrung water over the child's head, guiding him back to keep the soap out of his eyes. Grime washed from the child revealing his skin to be even greener than what Din had originally thought. Grabbing a second washcloth he wet and soaped this one and used it to clean the child's body. Once satisfied that the child was as clean as one could be he grabbed a towel and wrapped the child in it. Intelligent the child might have been but Din couldn't begin to guess his age with how small he was. </p>
<p>Dry and in the clean shirt Din moved them back to the living room. The child wasted no time climbing back on the couch and wrapped himself in the blanket. Din took the remote and turned the television on. He had no idea what children watched so he flicked through until a cartoon appeared. The wide dark eyes looked at Din once before turning his attention away. </p>
<p>He went back to his bedroom and grabbed his abandoned phone. There were several missed texts, a missed phone call, and Cara had decided, since Din ceased communications, to get Paz involved and there was one text from him.</p>
<p>
  <i>If Cara kills you, I get your house.</i>
</p>
<p>Din hit the call back icon. "I SWEAR TO GOD-" are the first words yelled through the speaker. Then in a more careful tone, Cara's words were clipped. "Din please tell me you didn't pick up more strays."</p>
<p>"I didn't. I found a child outside in the rain last night." He's going to leave out his healed ankle.</p>
<p>"Did you call the police?" Without explaining the body modifications because it's just better left up to Cara seeing the child for herself. Din explained that he suspected abuse and thought it would be better to go through Cara. Even Cara knew some of that was a lie. If applicable, Din always does everything on his own. The broken ankle is just another example on a long list of proof. </p>
<p>"I'm on my way." She hung up.</p>
<p>Din made his way back to his living room. The child hadn't moved and only seemed to have buried himself further into the blanket. Din made his way to the couch and sat. The child looked at him and made his way to Din's side. Surprisingly the child snuggled in and rearranged his blanket. With the child close Din could feel him shivering, Din wrapped his arm around the narrow shoulders and tucked the blanket more securely around the child. </p>
<p>"My friend Cara is coming. I trust her." The child burrowed further, the same trilling noise as earlier when the ears made their appearance came from him. This time not as distressed but Din could tell it was still a frightened noise. "She works with kids." </p>
<p>Those dark eyes turned to Din. "You are a kid, aren't you?" It was unnerving but Din refused to look away when the child stared at him as if staring down into Din's very heart. Finally the child nodded. The child turned his attention back to the television. </p>
<p>When Din finally heard Cara's approach he detangled himself from the child and stood. "Here, let's not surprise her." He maneuvered the blanket to help hide the oversized ears. Taking the hint the child grabbed the blanket and helped hold it in place. A sudden nervousness took over, maybe he shouldn't have gotten Cara involved but it was too late now.</p>
<p>Din thunked across the floor, not wanting Cara to come in yet. He got out the door just in time and whatever Cara had been ready to say died on her lips.</p>
<p>"Where the fuck are your cruches!?" she shouted instead.</p>
<p>"Please keep your voice down," Din said, for going answering.</p>
<p>"You stress me out, Mando." Cara ran a hand down her face. "Where's the kid?"</p>
<p>"Inside watching cartoons. Listen I didn't tell you everything. Someone's performed some kind of experiment on him." Cara's lips moved but no sound came out. "He has green skin and his hands are - his hands are clawed. And his ears-"</p>
<p>"Oh my, God. Stop. Let me. Just let me see him." Her hands are trembling when she comes up the porch steps and tries to help Din. He pretended to need it, not ready to disclose the healed bones yet.</p>
<p>The child hadn't moved, still curled on the couch holding the blanket to his head. Din forgot to mention the eyes and when the child looked up, Cara gasped. Din shot her a look, not wanting to upset the child more. He broke away from her grip and hobbled closer to the child. </p>
<p>"He doesn't speak. I'm not sure if he can't or won't but he understands what you say." He sat back down with the child and motioned for Cara to take a seat. She sat on the coffee table a comfortable distance from both of them. "Can Cara ask you some questions?"</p>
<p>The child stared at Din and then turned to Cara piercing her with that fathomless stare. After a moment the child nodded.</p>
<p>"Can you tell us your name?" Din had to bite his tongue not to answer. The child didn't hesitate to shake his head though.</p>
<p>"Do you know where your parents are?" Another shake. "Do you have parents?" Another shake. Cara looked at Din. "Can you show me how old you are?" The child stilled, head tilted. "Are you this old?" Cara held up three fingers. A shake. Four fingers. A shake. Five fingers. The child hesitated, then nodded his head. "You're five?" disbelief clear in her voice. The child nodded.</p>
<p>"Din," Cara stood up. "I think we need to call the police. This kid has been, I don't even. I've never seen anything." </p>
<p>The child reached out again, the blanket shifting to reveal one long ear. Cara's eyes widened but she maintained herself. She took the child's hand and squeezed so gently. </p>
<p>"Who did this to you?" It was so clear, even to the child, that Cara intended to harm whomever as viciously as possible. The child did not respond. </p>
<p>"I think that's his 'I don't know'." Din finally spoke.</p>
<p>"We've got to talk." And Cara was out of the room.</p>
<p>"I'll be right back." He assured the child before standing.</p>
<p>Cara was pacing the entire length of Din's kitchen. "Cara." She stopped and stared at him. "I gave him a bath earlier. I couldn't find any indication that his ears were modified."</p>
<p>"What the fuck are you trying to say." </p>
<p>"I don't know but I don't think we should involve anyone else. What exactly did you tell Paz?" Din shot Cara a look.</p>
<p>"Nothing. I texted him that you were on your bullshit again and I might actually kill you this time. I didn't mention the kid." Cara stopped and stared out the window. </p>
<p>"I've seen some horrible things between the military, police force, and social services. I've never seen anything like him." The silence stretched before Cara broke it, "Din, someone will be looking for him."</p>
<p>"I know." Cara had no idea how aware he was of that fact.</p>
<p>"And you have no idea where he came from. Where they're coming from."</p>
<p>Din moved to check on the child and found him still watching the television. "I know." The child's gaze shifted to Din. They watched each other carefully. "I shouldn't have involved you."</p>
<p>Cara scoffed and glared at him. "Fuck off, Mando. We've weathered worse." The child's eyes finally left Din's. </p>
<p>"I don't know about that." It was hard to admit, as Din and Cara had been through a lot together.</p>
<p>"I'm going to head home." Cara announced, "do not make any irrational decisions." She closed her eyes and breathed, "do not make any <i>more</i> irrational decisions." She came up and grasped Din's biceps and gave him a long look. "Didn't even leave the couch and found trouble." She shook her head and kissed his cheek.</p>
<p>Din shrugged, "trouble is my specialty." Cara rolled her eyes and punched Din's arm. It was only years of practice that kept him from flinching. They moved together toward the living room and Cara gave the child a small wave before exiting the house.</p>
<p>Din shuffled awkwardly on his casted foot. "Just you and me for awhile, kid." Din couldn't be sure but he thought maybe the child smiled at that. He made himself comfortable on the couch next to the child. He'd deal with the cast in a little while. Maybe once the child was asleep. Din couldn't explain the irrational thoughts behind his drive to keep the child safe. He just knew he wouldn't let anyone in between the child and himself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I think I started this fic a little drunk and at some point I must have smoked too much of the devil's lettuce because I spent 30 minutes fixing the tenses, so if anything reads weird it's because i should only edit when stoned, not actually write.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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